George A. Sprecace M.D.,
J.D., F.A.C.P. and Allergy Associates of New
London,
P.C.www.asthma-drsprecace.com

The Involved Citizen - Common Sense Revisited

> The Catholic Church <

What's Wrong and
Right with the Catholic Church, by George A. Sprecace M.D., J.D.:

Since March 18, 2006, I have been involved in an effort, posted
below and entitled POINT AND COUNTERPOINT, to discuss vital
issues of abortion, morality and ethics which are intrinsic to our
Judeo-Christian Faith and also involve the Faith of
Islam. This has been an effort to fill a palpable gap in the
dialogue between the Catholic Church hierarchy and its Laity,
the Body of the Church. A production of 40 offerings, it was
originally graciously embraced by our local Pastor. It was then
deferred to the Diocese of Norwich, where it was soon rebuffed and then
totally ignored since last Winter, despite multiple efforts to engage
the Bishop in personal dialogue. My efforts to engage the other
Bishops of Connecticut and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have
also failed. Only the Secretary to the Papal Nuncio sent a reply
expressing concern. This is a source of deep disappointment for
me, but especially for my Church.

Therefore, the POINT AND COUNTERPOINT series is hereby
suspended. I will personally continue to offer my help to an
organization in great need of help. But one of Murphy's Law's
states: "In an organization, deal only with the person at the
lowest rung or the highest rung of the ladder". Thus,
henceforth I will work only with the good parish priests...and with my
Lord Jesus. But I have offered the Church hierarchy my best
effort, which follows immediately below, at the diagnosis and a
treatment program for their current ills.

The
Catholic Church has for nearly a century been espousing controversial
Law from hard cases, this time thanks to the progress of Science.

I
refer here to the Church's involvement with the heart of human
nature: human reproduction and the sexual impulses that drive it.

Marriage between a man and a woman, indissolvable except by death or by valid anullment.

The "Unitive Function of Sex", which "must always be open to procreation".

The
consequent prohibition against even non-abortifacient contraception and
even by a committed married couple otherwise open to child-bearing.

Abortion of a human being from the moment of conception. This is the gold-standard, about which there can be no compromise.

The
prohibition against "in-vitro fertilization", in large part because of
the consequent unavoidable destruction of human embryos in the process.

The
threshold of genetic manipulations that promise to "build" human lives
to order...and to destroy those not deemed worthy of life.

The Catholic Church is holding the line here, while other Religions - including Judaism and Islam - have found ways out.

Meanwhile, Catholics, even good and practising Catholics have found their own solutions, hoping in God to understand.

But who is this God?

He
is the Creator of All Life, including Human Life, to which He has given
the Divine Gift of Free Will...to do Good or to do Evil.

He is All-Merciful, God of Love.

But "Vengeance is Mine. I shall re-pay', sayeth the Lord."

So,
are there legitimate and moral areas of flexibility and compromise for
the Catholic Magisterium to embrace here? I am no Theologian, although
I consider myself a good and practising Catholic. And I believe that
there are such areas. All I can do meanwhile is to discuss these issues
with my confessor...and to stay current with the relevant literature on
the subjects.

One most
recent article appeared in the May 13, 2018 issue of the Washington
Post: "IN VITRO, WE TRUST", a comprehensive review of the state of this
tortured area of human nature, law and morality. Read it - and examine your conscience and Free Will. And Pray.

Pretty neat
- it will
get you dizzy if you are not careful.
Use your Mouse to slide and roll for a very interesting full tour of
the
Sistine Chapel. Hold your curser down on right
side of
screen and slowly move pictures around. Amazing sight.TO VIEW EVERY PART OF THE MICHAEL ANGELO'S MASTERPIECE JUST CLICK
AND DRAG
YOUR ARROW IN THE DIRECTION YOU WISH TO SEE. MOVE THE CURSOR SLOWLY!!!

In the lower left corner, click on the plus to move closer, on the
minus to
move away.

This virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel is incredible. Apparently done
by
Villanova at the request of the Vatican ...

More on Pope Pius
Xll and the Holocaust. Of course, the "Pius Deniers" will never be
satisfied. But for the rest of you, please review my section under
"Catholic Church" within the "Abortion..." Category on this web site on
this subject, including my wife's scholarly monograph on the subject.

AGAIN
AND
AGAIN. As often as the misrepresentations and falsehoods appear
regarding
Pope Pius Xll in World War ll, we will refer the reader to the
facts.
See: "Holocaust Events Politicized; Rebuttal Provided", in the
Catalyst May 2012, p1 et seq. What could be the continuing
motivation? The vast majority of Jews are smarter than this and
know the
facts.
GS

THERE
ARE
HISTORIANS. AND THEN THERE ARE REVISIONIST "HISTORIANS".
Please see the offerings on Pope Pius XII and World War II,
located in
the Catholic Church section of the "Abortion, Morality and Ethics"
Category. The latest example of revisionism and just plain false
"facts" on this subject is reported and refuted in the April 2012
edition of Catalyst, the Journal of the Catholic League for
Religious
and Civil Rights:"Shoddy Scholarship In The Study Of Pope Pius
Xll", by Ronald J. Rychlak.
Professor Rychlak is also the author of the book "Hitler, the War,
and
the Pope.", 2010. Why can't these people get it right, finally?

...another
example of
your mother's courage in truth-seeking. See her original monograph,
published
in the late 1980's, and the entire section on this issue on my web site
under
Abortion..." and "Catholic Church".
God Bless her.

Reconciliation, Not War, In The Name
Of
God.True people of God must work for reconciliation
among
Christians, Jews, and Muslims - not for "Holy Wars" that rarely are if
ever holy or "in the name of God". Three readings are
offered
in this context:

"Catholics, Jews and the Work of
Reconciliation",
New York Times - Ideas and Trends, Sunday, September 15, 2002, wk
p 3;

The sexual scandals surrounding the Catholic
Church,
recently, represent a serious disease which requires an accurate
diagnosis
before any treatment can be expected to be effective. Offered
below
are articles and commentaries which go a long way towardclarifying the diagnosis, as distinguished from
the
miriad, knee-jerk reactions of some of the media and of some special
interestgroups. Personally, I have no problem with
married
priests or with ordination of women, regardless of whether or not those
issueshave anything to do with the disease in question -
so long as such "treatments" are embraced by the Universal Church and
not
by an"American National Church". And while we are
casting stones, let us remember that Jesus Christ Himself not only
forgave
Peter histhree denials, but built that Universal Church on
his faith, and on his strengths and weaknesses.

GS

As the symptoms and signs of this disease have
become
more clear, so has the treatment. And it turns out that the
proper treatment has existed for generations as applied to another
profession
/ vocation that has a fiduciary relationship with the
public:
the Medical Profession. Any physician who engages in an
intentional
act of moral turpitude with a patient will be investigated
and, if found guilty, punished under Criminal Law. He will also
be
vulnerable under Civil Law. In addition and independently, he
will
simultaneously face investigation and penalties under the rules and
statutes
of his hospital and of the State licensing authorities. And
fellow physicians who are aware of such actions have an ethical
obligation
- and in the case of minors a legal obligation - to report such
information.
This should be especially unambiguous with regard to the employer of
such
a person, who has a relationship of Agency, or at least of "Ostensible
Agency" with the perpetrator so far as the public is
concerned.
Any different assertion will be laughed out of court. The exact
same
rules should apply no less to the Catholic Church, its priests, its
other
employees and its administrators. It is sincerely to be
hoped
that this will be the position of the American bishops when they
meet in June. Otherwise, they will very soon see draconian
legislation being demanded by their flock and enacted by their
legislators.
They already are seeing efforts to apply the RICO racketeering statutes
to some of these cases. Furthermore, whatever mechanisms are
developed
to deal internally with the perpetrators, in addition to the
application
of Criminal and Civil Law, they must henceforth include the active
involvement
of lay members of the Church - the Body of the Church - in a position
to
"advise and consent". Meanwhile, the laity has shown that it
correctly
differentiates between its Faith, on the one hand, and the
administration
of its Church, on the other. It is perfectly willing to take its
dissembling Church administrators to task, including to use its "power
of the purse", while defending the vast majority of its good priests
and
while reaffirming its Faith. Perhaps some of its Church
administrators
should take a refresher course in that Faith. Now would be
a good time.